this morning on "early today," one week to go. debt limit talks hit yet another snag as house and senate leaders begin working on rival backup plans. nation in mourning. norway remembers the victims of its worst ever peacetime attack. and deep space oasis. scientists discover the largest water reservoir yet ten bilon light years away. this is "early today" for monday, july 25th, 2011. >> hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm amara sohn.

today we begin with running out of time. it was a working weekend in washington as the president met with congressional leaders trying to come up with a plan on tackling the debt limit. but in a sign of the deep divisions on capitol hill, two rival plans now appear to be in the works. for more, we go to nbc's tracie potts in washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. there are two different approaches here. one democrats who want to make sure whatever deal they come up with holds through the 2012 elections. republicans are looking at a step by step process where they would cut a trillion and raise the debt ceiling some now and come back to renegotiate part of this before the election. democrats and the president say no way they'll go for that. that's why we're at a stalemate. the issue now is timing. you mentioned meetings over the weekend. president obama we saw with top democrats at the white house trying to urge them to compromise more. republicans met with john boehner. he told conservatives they've

got to be a little bit more giving in terms of compromise. so here we are at a stalemate and the world markets this morning are reacting. on the bbc one high level english official said that as he put it right wing nutters in congress are causing more of a problem to the world economy than europe and the european economies and their problems. amara? >> tracie potts in washington. tracie, thank you. the man accused in the massacre and bomb attack in norway is asking for an open court hearing so he can explain himself according to his lawyer. anders breivik is due to be arraigned today. this as a shaken nation mourns the 93 victims who died. emma murphy from our english broadcast partner itn reports. >> reporter: in a country struggling to comprehend the events of the past days, there are few rituals to bring comfort. but hour after hour in the driving rain, the people of norway have lit candles and laid flowers in memory of their dead.

they seek solace together, but it is a terrible shared pain. some of those who were injured in the attack joined with norway's king and queen at services to try and understand the massacre brought on this country. it was the worst peacetime attack norway has ever seen. prime minister stoltenberg whose friends have lost children struggled to contain his obvious distress. on the verge of tears, he told a stunned nation, every single one of those we have lost is a tragedy in itself. together, it is a national tragedy. and this is the man who says he caused such heartbreak -- anders behring breivik, a right wing extremist who admits the

youth camp massacre and the oslo bombing. that bombing targeted the heart of government, but it wasn't those in power who died. exactly how many were killed is still unclear. norway's death toll is already horrifyingly high. but there is a fear that it will rise again. many of the buildings behind me are still too unsafe to search and may contain more bodies. anders breivik says he acted alone. a one-man campaign that has left an entire nation questioning how they can move forward from here. emma murphy, itv news, oslo. now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. wedding bells rang throughout new york on sunday from the big apple to niagara falls. same-sex couples took the plunge taking advantage of landmark legislation that permits gays and lesbians to marry in the state. the first day of legalized same-sex marriages did have a few protests, but they fizzled quickly as scores of gay and lesbian couples said i do. new york is the sixth and largest state to allow same-sex

marriage. hundreds turned out at california's imperial beach to watch a group of artists playing in the sand. each craftsman attempted to carve their place among elite sand sculptors, churning out amazing works of art. this year, 32 teams competed for a $21,000 grand prize. and finally in florida, several men did their best impersonation of ernest hemingway. the annual look alike contest at the hemingway days festival pitted over 100 clones of the famous writer against one another. the winner, a 63-year-old biomedical engineer said along with his looks, he shared hemingway's fondness for sport fishing and writing. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. >> they look friendly and fun, right? >> like your grandfather. big hug. jolly old man.

>> they can play santa in the off-season. good morning, everyone. yesterday we turned the heat up just a notch on the dial in the northwest. we were up into the 80s and after the summer we had it was appreciated. boi boise, way up on the dial. heat builds into cities like medford. cool on the immediate coast but 87 in portland. temperatures have cooled off with a frontal system that's come in. jet stream dipping to the south. still warm in boise. deserts are warm. san francisco down to 56. that's jacket weather. you can see we don't have a lot of moisture out there. we had some monsoonal showers in new mexico. a weak system kicking out of the northwest knocking the temperatures down. boise, 85 compared to 100s yesterday. a significant frontal system. 67 today in seattle. we're back into the cool weather after what was a really

enjoyable weekend. that's a look at yo >> we're not going to see too much bad weather in the west this upcoming weekend. should be a decent week. >> thank you, bill. how no debt deal is affecting markets. what ipo to look for on wall street this week. and what not to do when you think you've been sold a lemon. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, was it might or magic this weekend at the box office? a first at the tour de france. plus three new hall of famers and three walk-offs. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm amara sohn. here are some of your top headlines this morning. according to "the washington post," a military-led investigation has concluded that u.s. taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the taliban. the report which focuses on a more than $2 billion transportation contract says there have been cases of money laundering and kickbacks given to afghan officials and police. secretary of state hillary clinton says a senior north korean official will visit the u.s. this week to discuss the possible resumption of long-stalled talks on ending pyongyang's nuclear program. sources say congressman david wu will not run for re-election but won't resign despite allegations the oregon democrat had an unwanted sexual encounter with a teenage girl. house democratic leader nancy pelosi is seeking an ethics investigation into the accusation. and astronomers have found the largest and farthest reservoir of water ever detected.

the water is equivalent to 140 trillion times all the water in the earth's oceans. it surrounds a huge black hole more than 12 billion light years away. now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study suggests many uninformed voters cast their ballots based on candidates' looks, especially frequent tv watchers. analyzing a broad previous study, researchers found among those least knowledgeable, a ten-point increase in a candidate's appearance yielded a much higher percentage boost in support from those who watched the most television. for more information on this and other health stories, check out the health page at msnbc.com. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,681 after falling 43 points on friday. the s&p gained 1 point, and the nasdaq rose 24.

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 82 points while in hong kong, the hang seng dipped 151. sign posts in the week ahead will point to where the economy may be headed for the foreseeable future. number one will be the debt ceiling deal or the lack of one. look for volatility on wall street to pick up the longer the stalemate lasts. in fact, already in overnight asian trade without a weekend deal, the euro gained against the dollar. the dollar fell to a four-month low against the yen. wall street futures fell, and gold hit a new all-time high. the most important data this week will be a first reading of u.s. growth for the second quarter expected to show the economy grew at the same meager rate as it did in the first quarter at 1.9%. sunday, treasury secretary timothy geithner was lowering expectations while stressing optimism things will pick up. still, one fund manager pointed

out the ominous fact that since 1960, every time year on year growth has fallen under 2%, where we are so far for 2011, the economy has gone into recession. earnings will again be in focus. today we'll hear from netflix. tuesday, amazon. automakers ford and chrysler and u.p.s. thursday, exxonmobil. this week is loaded with 12 ipos. dunkin brands group will be the biggest. the average price of gas jumped nearly 9 cents a gallon over the past two weeks. and finally, a massachusetts man angry the car dealer who sold him a lemon wouldn't take it back intentionally crashed into seven cars at the dealership causing an estimated $20,000 damage. the state consumer affairs office suggested he should have called their hotline. a bit too late, don't you think? a cyclist from down under comes up big. who is new in baseball's hall of fame? and almost every possible way to

win in a walk-off. plus, the san diego outfielder makes about as good a catch as you'll ever see. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. a record-breaking heat wave is ending in the east. but the middle of the country, no relief for you. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you are just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, will there or won't there be a football season? here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> hi there. good morning. with every day, hour and minute, we get closer to an nfl season. the latest news coming yesterday with the players approving the owners' cba proposal. the only thing left is an official vote, and the nfl will be up and running later this week. baseball last week, roy halladay had to leave a game because of heat exhaustion. yesterday he was scorching hot, striking out eight over eight innings. but the play of the game was turned in by the padres' chris d'onofrio. the bomb to center and d'onofrio defusing it. takes away the sure home run from ibanez. unfortunately, not enough. phillies win, 5-3. reds and braves tied at three in the ninth. first batter and first pitch of the inning gone. drew stubbs ending it with the walk-off solo shot.

lucky home run 13 for stubbs. reds win. cubs and astros tied at four in the tenth. marlon byrd with a fly ball to right. hunter pence, i got it, i got it, i don't got it. loses it in the sun. byrd is safe at third. that would come back to haunt the 'stros. a single down the line. in comes byrd. cubs walk off with the 5-4 win. from one walk-off to another, cubs and pirates. winning run on third. the deep fly ball. he delivers. sac fly scores xavier paul. effective. pirates win, 4-3. the baseball hall of fame inducted three new members. 12-time all-star and twice a world champ, roberto alomar, pitcher bert blyleven who is fifth all-time in strikeouts and the general manager of three world series winners, pat gillick. three new members there. a new member to the list of champions at the tour de france. australia's cadel evans became the first aussie to win the tour de france. brothers andy and frank schleck took second and third. that's your early look at

sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. after a record-breaking weekend, a big falloff for "harry potter." your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, brutal, oppressive, almost inescapable heat in texas where it's been the worst. one group has found a way to beat that heat and find their center. you are watching "early today."

>> welcome back on this monday morning after a really nice, warm weekend. things have cooled off a bit. temperatures are dropping down into more enjoyable 85 in boise. seattle, cooler than you would like. portland, same for you after a nice weekend. 69 in san francisco. tomorrow we'll do a little bit better. 77 in l.a. watch out in phoenix for late-day storm. if you are watching us on king 5 news in seattle, head over to kirkland arts center at inventing an illusive space. here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. with "harry potter's" magic fading, "captain america: the first avenger" muscled its way to the top at the box office this weekend. "captain america" opened number one stronger than expected with over $65 million and a 64% male audience.

was a fifth of five superhero movies opening this summer. all debuted in the top spot. "harry potter and the deathly hallows: part 2," the eighth and final installment in the boy wizard franchise dropped to the second spot with slightly less than expected, just over $48 million. its audience dropped a whopping 72% from its record-setting opening last weekend. the weekend's other big release, the romantic comedy "friends with benefits" starring justin timberlake and mila kunis, opened third also with slightly less than expected at $18.5 million. earlier this year, "no strings attached" an extremely similar romantic comedy starring ashton kutcher and natalie portman debuted with just under $20 million. i think i'm a terrible consumer. i have not seen a movie, i have to admit, in about a year in the theaters. >> that's a long time. >> quite a long time. >> are you a reader? >> i'm a book worm, yes. >> are you a kindle type person or a real book?

>> i do not believe in kindles. i like books. i like the smell of the book. this comes to us from kxan news. some are using paddle board yoga. they execute challenging moves, balancing the board on water all while working your core isn't an easy task but once mastered, participants say they are able to calm, cool down and be at peace. i'm amara sohn. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

throwing a dinner party can be hard enough, let alone a world record dinner party. 550 people gathered in singapore at a 525-foot dinner table. what organizers hope guinness will recognize as the world's longest. to break the record, the structure had to be one professionally constructed table, not just many put together. dinner, by the way, was indian food. in taiwan there was an attempt to set a more traditional group performance record. a crowd of 552 did simultaneous handstands to encourage people to try the impossible. there were three rounds and participants had to stay up for at least 15 seconds. all ages from 2 to 65 took part and, with a little help, even a

dog joined in on the fun. kids at the need for speed competed in ohio's annual soap box derby championships. no engines were revved here. the homemade vehicles are powered only by gravity. the downhill racetrack is over 900 feet long, specially designed for elimination runs between different divisions and age groups. besides trophies, winners also receive scholarships. >> have you ever seen a dog do that before? >> that dog puts me to shame. i can't do a handstand. can you? >> lucky to do a head stand, let alone a handstand. >> my balance is terrible, too. time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. same-sex couples from the broadway community will wed on stage after a performance of "hair," one day after new york's new marriage law took effect. those attending tonight's performance have been invited to stay after the show to attend the weddings. michael jackson's mother will be joined by some of the late king of pop's siblings to announce a charity tribute concert in honor of michael.

reports say it will focus on 1982's "thriller" album and feature special performers. on this day in 1965, bob dylan shocked audiences at the newport folk festival performing his first electric set. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight, watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. the latest on the tragic death of singer amy winehouse and whether it could have been prevented. and 007 actor daniel craig talks about his new role in "cowboys and aliens" and what to expect in the next james bond film. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm amara sohn. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com